Barefoot in the Rain
by ashardoffreedom
Summary: AU. It was raining. Too much like the day his mother died. But out of that dark rain, could there be something more than simple remembrance? IchiRuki and slight HitsuKarin
1. Shoeless

**A/N: Hi. This is my first fanfic and my first Bleach Fic. I hope you all like it. I will try to update as soon as I can, but exams are coming up and I might not have enough time. Still, I hope you love my brain-child as much as I do! Oh, and thanks to Adobo-chan, whose fanfics inspried me to write this one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, because if I did, the anime would last forever instead of ending. **

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_Part One: Shoeless _

Ichigo had a lot on his mind. It had been a long time since he had been home from college long enough to actually relax. Usually he was sprinting in and out of the family home, wishing that he had more time. Paying your way was a lot harder than it looked, even with the scholarships that he had gotten. Two jobs and classes didn't make law school any easier.

Ichigo wasn't really sure why law school appealed to him. He certainly wasn't one for the bland or the normal, but it allured him—the chance to argue and win, to present your case and win it. It also helped that it would give him a stable future. With how hectic his life had been lately, maybe he needed a little stability and a good life.

He was sitting in a chair next to his bedroom window, where the rain fell like dark essence upon the water-blacked concrete. It was a worn Sunday at the end of May, only a couple of weeks before he would go and pay respects to his late mother, who had died in a car accident in a day much like this. Strangely, after all the years of her death, it didn't bother the nineteen-year-old Ichigo as much as it had bothered the nine-year-old one about her death. Now, as he watched the rain fall softly, there was a sense of peace that came with the steady rhythm rather than grief and pain.

It was nice to simply be alone for a while. Karin understood that. Yuzu didn't, with her constant penchant that he needed to get a girlfriend and that he needed to get out more, while she avoided her constant suitors from her third year in high school. Karin, on the other hand, had a nice steady relationship going with Toshiro, one of Ichigo's friends. Karin pretended like she wasn't. Ichigo pretended that he didn't know that she was hiding it.

Ichigo and Karin maintained a simple "you stay out of my business, I'll stay out of yours" relationship. However, he had already threatened Toshiro that if he made Karin cry for the wrong reasons, he wouldn't let Toshiro see the light of day.

As Ichigo watched the rain drip down the window pane like tears, he considered what Yuzu had said. It wasn't that he didn't have friends; they were just too caught up in their own lives and final exams to have time to hang out. Not to mention that most of them were on the brink of failing anyway. And the ones who weren't, like Toshiro, mainly had girlfriends to worry about.

Yuzu was wrong on both accounts. It's not that he didn't want a girlfriend. He wanted a relationship as much as the next fellow, but honestly, he just couldn't see himself in one. Especially not with someone superficial. He had dated a lot of girls who cared to much about appearances and what other people thought of them, and he had dated girls who had no personality other than the one that society had engraved upon them. It was hard to find a girl who was truly outgoing and fearless, yet had the intelligence to keep up a decent conversation. He wasn't looking for just anyone, and he didn't think that anyone should be. No one should look for a relationship under the idea that "any girl will do." That was disrespectful and cruel to both parties.

So, no, he wasn't in a rush to get into a relationship, much to Yuzu's disappointment.

He closed the Calculus textbook that he was supposed to be reading and understanding. It wasn't that hard, but it wasn't the way that he wanted to spend his afternoons. Ichigo ran a hand through his orange hair and wished that he had no obligations, to himself or to his mother. He had promised her that he would protect people, and he guessed that being a civil rights lawyer would do just that. He supposed that he could have become a cop as well, but he had never really gotten along with the force, after being a branded delinquent in high school for all those years. He wasn't especially feeling the need to get chummy. And arguments were his thing.

As he looked outside the window, he saw a girl dressed in nothing but a white T-shirt and shorts, dragging a garbage can behind her. She was short and . . . petite, maybe . . . with black hair that clung to her shoulders. She was pulling the can with surprising strength considering her size. If he had just glanced at her, Ichigo would have thought her to be a middle-schooler at best. But even through the water- blurred sight of the window, he could tell that she was his age, maybe a little younger.

Her hair was a mess and glued to her scalp from the rain. She continued to drag the trash down her driveway without so much as a raincoat on. Her body was slim and fit and she didn't hesitate to run back up the water soaked concrete as the heavy rains came down on her.

These rains were the type that flooded the backyard of Kurosaki Clinic, the type that froze you to the bone in mere minutes despite it being mid-May. Ichigo had to respect a girl who would brave the weather for something as trivial as taking out the trash.

When she was done, the girl smiled and held up a hand to catch a few raindrops in her palm before dropping them back onto the concrete. When Ichigo saw the girl smiling, behind the panel of glass, he had to smile was well because of her simple happiness and her willingness to enjoy the simpler things.

He admired that she was willing to go outside in nothing other than a ratty T-shirt and some shorts, her hair ruffled and completely without anything that would change her appearance from the natural look that it was. It was a breath of fresh air from the complicated social norms. The same social norms that had gotten him branded as a bad kid in high school for his _natural _ orange hair.

Ichigo was suddenly reminded that this girl was probably one of his new neighbors. He vaguely remembered Yuzu mentioning that there was a new family comprised of two siblings moving into his neighbor. He hadn't really thought of it at the time, but now he was beginning to wonder who she was and where she came from.

He watched as she lugged a recycle bin out along with the trash, which was quite frankly larger than her entire being. The girl nodded at her handy work before running back to her house, now completely and utterly soaked to the point of where her hair flung raindrops when she flipped it.

But as Ichigo watched her go back inside, he realized that the entire time that she had been outside, she hadn't been wearing shoes.

With that unconventional thought, he suddenly wanted to know her name. Because it had been a lot more interesting watching her than it had been reading his Calculus textbook.


	2. Hopeless

**A/N: Here's chapter two. I've been updating pretty quickly, but I might have to take a little break before the next chapter. But believe me, I will update. I refuse to simply let a story die out! So all of you who want this fanfic to continue, I'm here for you! As for those who were nice enough to review and/or story alert my fanfic, I LOVE YOU ALL! (in a totally non-creepy way) I also have to thank my best friend, MusicGeek764, because she got me into Fanfiction.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, Ichigo's Fullbring would have a been a lot cooler and his sword wouldn't have changed shape after he got his powers back. I loved the original Zangetsu design and its original Bankai!**

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_Part Two: Hopeless _

"Ichigo!"

He moved away from the windowsill where he had been watching the girl to look at his sister, who was wearing an apron and wielding a ladle with deadly accuracy. Ichigo immediately knew that whatever his sister wanted, he would agree to, because that ladle was a certifiable weapon of mass destruction. "Yuzu. Do you need me?"

"I was just going to tell you that dinner is almost ready," Yuzu said as she struggled with trying to tuck her hair behind her ears without getting the batter that was on her fingers in her pretty, fair hair. Ichigo had gotten the vibrant orange, while Yuzu had gotten the light color of sunbaked straw. Karin's hair was as raven as the night, and if she was there, he would have said that it matched her soul.

Ichigo nodded calmly, then looked out the window yet again. "Hey, Yuzu. Have you seen our neighbors yet?"

Yuzu smiled slightly, bringing out the soft feminine look that had boys chasing her and Dad in a crying fit about how his daughter were growing up without him. "I saw the brother this morning. I gave him some food and told him where things were. He was nice. Kind of cold, though. His name is Byakuya Kuchiki. He moved from . . . well, I can't really remember where he came from. Some fancy country. Probably in Europe."

"They're foreign?" Ichigo asked disinterestedly. He sent a lazy glance out the window, which was bare of people now that the barefoot girl had disappeared inside the uniform housing.

"No, I don't think so. They just lived there for a while. Him and his younger sister, I mean."

"What's the girl's name?"

Yuzu smiled mischievously, an echo of the natural Kurosaki spirit in her eyes. "Ooooh. I see what's going on."

"Please, don't see," Ichigo murmured as he looked out of the window again.

"So, do you want to know this girl?" Yuzu chooed, which was not a good expression for her. "Oh, this is so cute!"

"Honestly, you're reading into things again. I just saw the girl take out the trash."

"Oh, this is so romantic!" Yuzu said excitedly, clapping her hands together in excitement, splattering Ichigo with batter. "Ichi-nii in love at first sight. It'll be tragic, like Romeo and Juliet!"

"First, why did you skip automatically from 'I saw a girl take out the trash' to LOVE? Second, why does it have to be tragic?"

Yuzu shook her head. "Don't you know? That's the rule. It's not romantic unless it's just a little bit tragic. I mean, have you heard of any great love stories without a tragedy?"

"Regardless, who says I want a great love story?" Ichigo asked carefully.

Yuzu rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, forgetting about the batter for a moment. "Honestly, Ichi-nii, you're hopeless. I mean, is it so wrong to be romantic these days? You need a girlfriend. Then I'll have someone to complain to about you."

"More reason for me not to have one," Ichigo murmured. "Now, why don't I talk to Karin instead? She might actually listen to me."

Yuzu shook her head and pouted her lips fiercely. "Fine. Then under no circumstances I am ever cleaning your room while you're gone again!"

With that, Yuzu stormed out of Ichigo's bedroom.

Well, she tried to storm. Yuzu was never good at doing anything angrily, and that included storming. Even her threat of uncleanliness would fail in less than twenty-four hours. She just couldn't deal with the fact that something was gathering dust. She'd be back to sweep by evening, dusting everything with lemon furniture polish and making Ichigo feel like his personal space had been violated.

But that was typical Yuzu.

There was a knock on Ichigo's door. Ichigo looked up from his book and gave a little half-smile when he saw that Yuzu's tomboyish twin was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and a classical smirk on his face. It was typical for both him and Karin to share that condescending expression, but sometimes it irked him to be on the receiving end of it.

"Ichi-nii, Yuzu's in the kitchen trying to be upset and failing miserably at it. What did you say to her?"

Ichigo turned his eyes back to the Calculus text book, learning about something . . . concerning variables. That was about all he got out of it. "I didn't say anything to her. She's the one who's trying to turn my life into an afternoon soap-opera."

Karin nodded understandingly and sat down on his bed. Only a few months ago, Yuzu had been raving about how romantic it was that she had fallen in love with her big brother's best friend and how it was so much like a novel. Yuzu pestered Karin until she finally decided to simply deny the entire thing—she wasn't going out with Toshiro, she didn't see him every Saturday when she went out "shopping," and she didn't go to his family's house over winter break, telling dad that she had a "sleepover with a friend." Neither Ichigo nor Yuzu fell for it one bit. Dad, on the other hand, waved her along, telling her to give Rangiku-chan his holiday wishes.

"So she's giving you a hard time," Karin stated. "Who's the recipient of Yuzu's wild delusions?"

"That would be the new neighbor next door, who Yuzu thinks I'm madly in love with because I asked her what her name was."

"Ah. That sounds like Yuzu. So why is she upset?"

"Because I told her that you would actually listen to me, instead of her."

Karin raised a thin, black eyebrow at him silently.

"Don't look at me like that," Ichigo said. "You're listening, aren't you?"

Karin shrugged. "That's generally what I do. I listen to you whine about your problems."

"It's not a problem! I just want to know the girl's name! Is that a crime in this household?"

"To Yuzu and Dad, it means that you're falling madly in love. They love cute and romantic stuff like that. Believe me, I got an entire lecture on the 'ignorance of youth' and 'how I was wasting away my high school years in some far-fetched romance.' And this was before I was even going out with him." Karin sighed and tugged on the ribbon that kept her hair back. Karin was wearing the loose T-shirt and shorts that was usual look since she was a child, but she had gotten kinder and more girly once she had entered her second year of high school. And Ichigo had a sinking suspicion that Toshiro was the one that created that change.

Ichigo sighed and threaded his fingers behind his head. "Well, do you know who the two of them are?"

Karin nodded. "The brother's name is Byakuya Kuchiki and he's some important businessman over in Europe. Apparently, he got transferred back to Japan a couple of days ago. I have no clue why he would want to stay here though. Anyway, the girl's name is Rukia. She's his adopted sister, but they're really close."

Ichigo nodded and looked out the window again, remembering the girl that he had seen. Rukia. . .

Karin jumped up off the bed and patted Ichigo on the shoulder. "Well, it's time for dinner, lover boy."

"Lover boy?"

Karin smiled and walked out, giving Ichigo a mischievous smile. Ichigo sighed once more and decided that if they weren't his sisters, both Yuzu and Karin would be in a world of hurt by now.

"Ichigo! Come on!"

Ichigo got up and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Don't worry, I'm coming."

With once solitary glance back at the window, he turned off the lights and returned to his family.

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**A/N: Please review! I love to hear what all of you guys think!**


	3. Helpless

**A/N: Hey, guys! It's me. I hope that you guys like my fic so far. I'm not sure if this is as long as it should be, but it's the best that I could do. I'm trying not to make my fics overly wordy, but I don't want them to be too short either. Please, tell me what you think. And if you're even here, reading this, I have to say that I truly appreciate it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, Uryu would have had some more badass fights. I feel like he got shortchanged after Hueco Mundo. **

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_Part Three: Helpless_

The Kurosaki family didn't eat dinner. They fought over it, argued about it, and yelled at each other over it so much that eating dinner came later. It hadn't been the first time that someone had come to their house and complained about their ever-increasing volume levels. And it wouldn't be the second, or the third or the fourth . . .

And if Ichigo was going to count that high, he was going to need more fingers.

So when there was a knock on the door, he wasn't surprised.

Before that, Ichigo had been watching Karin and Dad fight over a piece of fish, which ended with Karin crunching Dad's chopsticks in half.

"How, Karin-chan? How dare you destroy Daddy's favorite chopsticks? Don't you care about your poor, toiling father?"

Karin hadn't decided to dignify the comment with a response, and was rather busy eating the fish that she had won fair (?) and square.

Yuzu was already cleaning up the plates that had been cleared and moving them into the sink. When she came back to the table, she hit Dad over the head with a bowl covered in soap, insisting that he act his age. However, Yuzu just added fuel to the fire. Dad started in on a rant about how his daughters had no respect for their father, which caused him to crawl over to the large portrait of their mother, Masaki, which was _still_ on the wall. And after all these years, Ichigo didn't have the heart to tear it down.

Karin did, with Dad trying to pry her off the poster, when Ichigo heard a knock on the door.

Watching the antics of his family for a moment, Ichigo simply sighed and turned to the door, leaving the screams (Yuzu), threats (Karin) and yelps (Dad) behind him and mentally preparing himself for the old woman who lived across the street with her four cats and three hearing aids.

Ichigo pulled open the door.

Instead of the cranky, seventy-five year old woman that he was expecting, he found a short girl who wore a black raincoat and blended into the dark background around her. Her face and hair were covered by the hood of the raincoat and she was focused on the struggling figure she held. In her hands, she was holding a cat away from her body. The cat had a cut over its left eye and was nearly the same color as Ichigo's hair. The cat tried to fight both Ichigo and the girl at the same time, twisting and curving to try to get out of the girl's grip. But her hands were firm, and the cat wasn't going to succeed. The girl held the cat out like she was offering it to Ichigo.

"Umm . . . Hello?" Ichigo asked awkwardly.

Her head perked up and the girl looked to Ichigo. "Oh, I'm sorry. I found this cat in our garage, and Nii-san told me that I was supposed to see if it belonged to anyone so . . ."

When the girl looked up to Ichigo, he caught a glimpse of the face that she was hiding. Although she was size of an elementary school kid, her face had the older glimpse of someone at least in high school, maybe college. Ichigo wasn't very good at putting an age to a face. Her black hair was short and glossy, touched with a light shade of dark blue. It curved in at the base of her chin and then spread out, like she was used to putting it back in a ponytail. Her eyes were a solemn, but kind, black, wide with a mischievous sparkle. She bit her lip as she talked with her slight upper-class accent. Ichigo recognized her as the girl that had been taking out the trash . . . Rukia.

Before Ichigo could even speak to the girl, there was a shot from the hallway as Karin dodged her father and he came flying into the hallway in front of the door. The girl was shocked, but Ichigo simply signed and turned back to his family.

"KEEP IT DOWN!"

Suddenly, Ichigo's father came at him with a kick. "My son! You will show more respect to your beloved father, who cares for you with his heart and soul! The passion in my kick will show you the error of your ways."

"I don't really feel like it!" Ichigo said, avoiding the attack and shoving his father's face against the wall. "In case you haven't noticed, you idiot, we have a guest!"

"Ichigo, you cruel boy, I'm your one and only father," Dad said, his vowels garbled from his scrunched face. His eyes turned to the girl with difficulty as Ichigo didn't release him from his grip. "Oh, and you must by one of our new neighbors, I'm Kurosaki Isshin, how do you do . . ."

"Quiet, Goat-chin!" Karin shouted from the hallway. "We're not done yet!"

Ichigo sighed and turned back to the girl, who was looking quite shocked and confused. "Really, I'm sorry about all of this. It's not their fault; honestly, they're always like this. . ."

The girl smiled kindly. "Oh, it's okay. I have some interesting people at my house, too. But, really, is this your cat?"

"Oh, no, it belongs to the old lady who lives next to us." Ichigo released his father's head and pointed across the fence to another building that looked exactly like the one next to it. "She lives there with—"

Before he could finish, Isshin had gotten up off the floor and tackled Ichigo. "You dare, my son! This means war!"

"Bring it on, old man! I get Karin, too!"

"You got it, Ichigo! Come on, Goat-Chin, let's see what you've got!"

The girl giggled and put a hand to her lips while she watched the antics of the family. She had truly never seen people like them. Unfortunately, with that unconscious gesture, she lost the grip she had on the cat, which went darting off in the other direction. "Oh, damn it!" She darted off after it, waving a hand to Ichigo and saying "I've got to go! Bye!" as she ran after it through the slippery rain.

Ichigo raised a hand in farewell, but the girl was too far away too see it, and all Ichigo got was a glipse of her running across the barren, soaked streets, chasing the cat with the rain pouring down over her head. It also got Ichigo an uppercut to the face by his father, who had taken advantage of Ichigo's moment of weakness.

"Try and fight me now! Masaki, watch as the great father of your beloved family teaches these children lessons in life!"

Karin sent a well-placed flying kick to old Goat-Chin's face and knocked him to the ground. Karin glared at him and beckoned him with her hand. "Bring it, Beardy!"

Ichigo got up from the floor and touched his bruised chin with his hand. "Oh, you're going down, Dad. Consider this payback for all the times you attacked me in the mornings!" he said as he kicked his father's side.

"But, my dear boy, those were in good intentions . . ."

"You could have killed me a hundred times over back in my high school days! Where are your parental instincts, man?"

Ichigo and Karin spent the rest of the hour harassing their father while Yuzu did the dishes and made bets with Karin about how long it would take Dad to fall unconscious. The evening was wrapped up with Karin ripping off the larger-than-life sized poster of their mother, only for Isshin to pull out another one and paste on the wall. Karin shook her head and clenched her fists, but refused to fight again after so recently. Karin stomped up to call Toshiro, although she insisted that she was studying, but Ichigo knew who was clogging their telephone lines. Yuzu and Ichigo had to handle damage control while Goat-Chin was busy lamenting to his _second_ poster of Masaki about how he had raised their children to be manner-less delinquents. Ichigo was beginning to wonder if Dad was ever going to stop talking to the poster. He highly doubted it.

As Ichigo took an inventory count, he discovered that they had broken the table, three chairs and a chandelier, and Ichigo wasn't even sure how the last one happened, considering that he was unaware that they even _owned _a chandelier. Yuzu spent most of her time sweeping up broken remains of furniture and complaining how their fighting was going to make them go broke.

However, Ichigo's family had never been strapped for money, although Ichigo wondered how they made that money, considering that his father only seemed to work in the clinic when someone's life was in danger (which happened surprisingly often for a quiet little town).

Only after Yuzu and Ichigo were finished cleaning up the kitchen and dining room did Ichigo's thoughts flit back to the pretty little girl who had come to their door in search of a home for a helpless little cat. And despite their brief conversation, he had never even told her his name.

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"Gotcha!" Rukia scooped the cat into her arms after a baseball slide under the porch of one of her new neighbors. "You're not getting away from me this time, Mr. Kitty."

Rukia still held the cat at arm's length, not willing to get clawed under any circumstances. She gave it the best death glare that she could muster to give something that cute.

"I want to be mad at you, Mr. Kitty, for making me spend half my evening looking for you, but you're cute and helpless, so I'm not going to." Rukia smiled lightly at the cat, who hissed at her in return.

"Fine. Be like that. But your owner had better be happy when I get you back."

Digging herself out of the water and the mud, Rukia tried to get the best of the dirt off before determining that it was useless. Her hair was matted and uncombed and she hadn't even bothered to wear anything other than her normal shirts and a black windbreaker. As she got up, she caught a glimpse of the house that she had went to.

They had been an interesting family. It was definitely different from the stanch formality that she kept with her brother. Byakuya was a great brother and treated her with the kindness and respect that you would expect any brother to give, but sometimes it was stifling and too strict for her taste. The people that she had met. . . they were free and simple, having tight family bonds and close relationships that didn't have to worry about etiquette. The father was foolish, the black-haired girl was rough and aggressive, the fair-haired one was a pacifist and a homemaker. She didn't know what to think of the man who had opened the door. He had been the only one who had actually talked to her (without his face plastered against a wall) and he had seemed nice enough at first. And . . . she blushed. . . Rukia had to admit that he was very handsome. He had been kind to her, but he didn't seem to fit into the categories that Rukia had made for the other members of the family. He was interesting. Maybe they would be friends, because it was certain that Rukia was in dire need of them.

Then she realized that she had sprinted off without even learning his name. Suddenly, it seemed like it was a real shame that Rukia didn't even know that.

The cat hissed at her.

Rukia brought the cat's face up to her own. "Fine, Mr. Kitty. Stop being so impatient. Can't you just be nice and enjoy the rain?"

Rukia got another hiss in response and Rukia rolled her eyes as she trudged up the steps to the cat's house. Not everyone could love the rain the way that Rukia did.

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**A/N: Ah, fluff. It did get a little fluffy at the end, but that may have just been the cat. ;D Anyway, please review. I would love to hear what you have to say. **


	4. Nameless

**A/N: It's been a while, guys! Well, not really, more like three days. I hope that I haven't kept you waiting in suspense. I highly doubt it. But anyway, here's Part Four of my most popular and first fanfiction. To everyone who reviewed, story-alerted or favorited, I owe you mass amount of cookies and gratitude! You guys are the reason that I update so regularly. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. If I did, Orihime would be less cheerful. Sometimes her optimism is . . . scary. **

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_P__art Four: Nameless _

Ichigo tapped his pencil against the side of his law book. He sighed. It was bad enough that he took math in college (honestly, who cared what happened when a girl named Susan bought forty watermelons? And why the hell did she need forty watermelons in the first place? When you think about it, word problems were just stupid) but there was no way that he would be able to remember all the court cases for his final.

Ichigo was sitting on a stool behind the counter of the bookstore. It was run by a guy named Urahara, who bought every book but the ones that people wanted to buy. Urahara-san loved anything that wasn't normal or out of the mainstream, which was why people generally didn't come to the shop that often. Which meant that Ichigo was basically doing his homework for his minimal wage. There were two high school kids that worked there with him, named Jinta and Ururu, but the three of them never shared shifts.

It didn't help business that the Urahara Books was the type of store that a person's eyes would just skip over. Not many people noticed it, and the ones that did were . . . odd. Ichigo had had one memorable visit from a man with bells in his spiked hair and an eye-patch. Ichigo rung him up and got him out of there as quickly as possible before this pirate-wannabe added to the already infamous reputation of the shop.

However, Ichigo had also made some friends from working at the shop. He was sometimes hung out with Ikkaku during weekends. The bald man was one of their regulars. Ichigo had immediately felt a sense of connection with him after he realized that he had also been branded a delinquent in high school for his bald head and wooden sword. Ikkaku had said that he would have had a real sword, but those were against the law. Ichigo didn't ask many questions, but as far as he was concerned, Ikkaku was simply a fighting fanatic whose recent hobby was swordplay. That didn't mean he was a delinquent. Just . . . socially challenged.

Ichigo enjoyed spending the time doing his homework and being the reason that Urahara had absolutely no food.

He wasn't paying attention when someone approached the counter, and didn't bother to look up when he did notice them. "Hello, and welcome to Urahara Books, and if you're looking for a good selection, you should probably go somewhere else . . ."

He looked up when he got a girlish giggle and a little "hi" in reply.

It was the girl from three nights ago—the barefoot girl.

Ichigo hadn't seen her since she had disappeared, running after the cat in the rain. Now the rain had stopped, and Ichigo would have been lying if he hadn't said that his thoughts did go to the girl more often than not. She was beautiful, after all, and there was something distinctly different about her from the other girls that he had met.

Ichigo smiled slightly. "Oh, so it's you."

"You remember me?" She asked with a grin. "I remember you."

"Yeah."

There was a moment of silence, but it wasn't awkward. It was full of things that didn't need to be said. Ichigo had the strangest feeling that in some other time, some other place, he had known her. There was just that sense of familiar friendship between them.

Ichigo cleared his throat. "Hey, so did you get that cat back where it belonged?"

"Oh, yes. It wasn't very happy with me, after all. Did you win that fight with your father?"

Ichigo looked affronted. "Of course I did. I've been beating him since my high school days."

Rukia tilted her head, an action that Ichigo found to be extremely cute. "Do you take martial arts?"

"Yeah, with Tatsuki."

"Tatsuki . . ." Rukia's face was indifferent, but her hopes sunk with the idea. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you had a girlfriend." Rukia seemed a little depressed and put-out by the idea.

Ichigo's eyes widened at the simple suggestion of the fact that Tatsuki was his girlfriend. He immediately waved his hands in denial.

"Oh, no no no no no. Don't get the wrong idea. I don't have a girlfriend." He blushed at the last statement. "I mean, she and I are just friends. There's nothing going on—"

"Calm down. I wasn't suggesting anything." Rukia placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Oh, right. I knew that."

Rukia leaned over the counter slightly, propping her chin in her elbow. She looked at Ichigo through hooded eyes. "Riiight. . . if you say so."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow with his traditional smirk plastered on his face. "Are you doubting my honesty?"

"Now when did I ever say that?" Rukia said innocently, giving a sweet smile, acting as if she was a doll.

Ichigo gritted his teeth, though it wasn't in anger. Here was a girl who would stand on even terms with him, who would stare him down in a contest of wills and probably win. Even Tatsuki didn't have the will and fight of this girl, and that was something that he thought that he would never say.

"Are you here for any specific reason?" Ichigo asked, just to get out of whatever hot water he felt like he was boiling in.

It was Rukia's turn to blush.

"Well, I just wanted a book or two . . ."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Then you wouldn't have come here." An idea occurred to him. "Did you come here to see me?"

Rukia's blush deepened. "Baka, why would you think that . . . that's just stupid. . . I mean . . ."

It seems that she loses her high-class accent when she's flustered, Ichigo thought. Well, that's interesting.

"Wait, you did come to see me, didn't you?" Ichigo teased, leaning over his law book to be closer to her. Ichigo could see the deep red on her cheeks. "It's okay, you know, if you did."

Rukia turned away from him, placing a curtain of her black hair between the two of them. "I admit to nothing."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I watch you when you take out the trash," Ichigo said.

Rukia turned back to him, her cheeks now just a light shade of pink. "You were the one who was watching me?"

"Pretty much. But don't tell anyone about it. It'll ruin my reputation as a delinquent." Ichigo looked at her small frame. "Hey, just wondering, where do you go to school?"

He tried to phrase the question delicately because he wasn't sure how old she was. And if she was as young as she looked, he was pretty sure that he was doing something illegal. She was barely taller than some of the elementary school students. If she was anything less than third-year in high school, he would have been hitting on a girl who was younger than his sisters, and that didn't bode well for him. On any level.

"Oh, I go to the city college like three blocks from here."

Relief flooded his mind. He never would have heard the end of it if it got out that Ichigo liked a high-school kid.

Whoa. Back up. Did he just say that he _liked_ her? Well, Ichigo did tend to make up his mind based off of first impressions. So yes, maybe, kind of, on an occasional Tuesday, he liked her. It was Tuesday.

"I go to the law school that's like, right next to that college."

"Really?" Rukia whistled. "That place is fancy. I thought that you said that you were a delinquent."

"Well, that's a matter of opinion. I mean, I don't consider myself a delinquent, just like I'm pretty sure that you don't consider yourself short."

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about," Rukia said. "I'm not short. I'm simply vertically challenged, and what the hell would you know?"

Ichigo only smiled at her, which caused Rukia to turn that dark shade of pink yet again. Ichigo was simply marveling at the many moods of one very-short (no matter what she said) girl.

"Well," Ichigo said, "since my college is so close to yours, we should grab coffee some time."

Rukia flinched and then looked at him speculatively. "Did you just ask me out?"

Ichigo sighed. "Well, I was trying to be subtle about it, but I think that you just threw that idea to the wind. So then, let me be blunter. Would you like to get coffee with me?"

"Sure. What do I have to lose?" Rukia asked with a smile.

"Well, let me pack up and then we can go," Ichigo said as he threw his books and papers into his backpack and threw it over his shoulder. "Urahara-san!" Ichigo called.

Urahara yawned and came out of the back room with his sandals, green-and-white striped hat and his curved cane. He stretched and looked at his only employee. "Well, if it isn't Kurosaki . . . and oh, look what we have here? Want to introduce you to your friend?"

"Oh, right, this is Rukia."

Rukia tugged on his ear and brought him down to her level. "A, how do you know my name? And B, why the hell are you calling me by _only_ my first name?"

"Ouch."

Rukia only sighed and let him go, which had Ichigo sending glares at his companion and rubbing his mutilated ear. "Hi, I'm Kuchiki Rukia, nice to meet you, Urahara-san." She walked forward and formally stuck her hand out.

Urahara took her hand kindly. "So you must be the infamous girl that Kurosaki-kun has been in a daze over."

"Hey! Don't tell her things that she doesn't need to know!"

"But, Kurosaki-kun, why not? Isn't she your girlfriend?"

Ichigo blushed scarlet. "Don't assume! And girlfriend is a bit strong of a word isn't it?"

"But, seeing the overwhelming love between the two of you—"

It took only seconds for Ichigo's foot to find Urahara's face. While Urahara lay questionably lifeless on the floor, Ichigo put an arm around Rukia's shoulders and walked her out of the book store, shouting behind him, "I'm taking a break, Urahara-san!"

Then he turned to Rukia. "Hi, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. Nice to meet you."

Rukia only laughed.

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**A/N: I personally enjoyed writing that. I hope you enjoyed reading it! Please review! :)**


	5. Needless

**A/N: Well, it's been some time guys. Sorry, exams. But anyway, here's the fith and final part of my fanfic, Barefoot in the Rain. I'm sorry that it took so much time. I had fanfic writer's block, which is ironic, because I write fanfic when I have writer's block. Anyway, thanks to everyone who even glanced at my story, and were dedicated enough to make it to the fifth and final chapter. That's so much! Please review and tell **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, there would be no such thing as IchiHime. No, just no. I'm sorry to all the IchiHime fans out there. But. . . not for me.**

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_Part Five: Needless_

Rukia stood outside the coffee shop that had become their usual hangout. She tapped her foot impatiently and adjusted the straps of her blue dress nervously. She occasionally touched the brim of the sun hat that kept the sun out of her eyes during the hot summer days—like this one, the one that Ichigo was making her sit through waiting for him. She had been waiting for nearly a half an hour, and she was becoming worried—Ichigo had never bailed out on a date before, and believe me, there had been plenty.

"Rukia!"

Ichigo ran towards her, his usual berry-head sticking out in the crowd. Before he could even approach, Rukia sent a flying kick to his face. As Ichigo sat there on the ground, rubbing his face painfully, Rukia crossed her arms and shouted, "What the hell, Ichigo! You made me wait for a half an hour! Where are your manners, you inarticulate bumble?"

Ichigo got up. "Yuzu was sick! I had to get her medicine, midget!"

Rukia kicked him in the shins. "I'm not short! And what the hell would you know anyway!"

Ichigo only rolled his eyes and Rukia looked away awkwardly as Ichigo got up off the ground. Rukia sighed, not meeting his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry. But it's like our third date, and I thought that you had stood me up."

Ichigo smiled and put an arm around his favorite petite, black-haired girl. "Aw, you're so cute."

Rukia blushed. "W-what?"

Watching his girlfriend, who was blushing and trying not to meet his eyes, Ichigo smiled, ruffled her hair and pulled her to his side as they began to walk down the street. "I said that you're cute. What? Don't believe me?"

Rukia lost her blush and looked up to him mischievously. "Now, I never said that."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and kissed her cheek, which made her blush harder. They hadn't had their first kiss yet, but Ichigo tended to be affectionate when she got cheeky. She figured that it was because it was the fastest way to shut her up. However, it was nice and considerate regardless.

They walked down the street, chatting about college and talking about how Toshiro and Karin had been caught on a date recently. Rukia found it easier and easier to talk to Ichigo every time that they had been on dates together. Ichigo was a good guy, and she loved him. Of course, she had never told him, and wasn't sure when she would, but Rukia thought that he knew. There was a certain way that he looked at her that said that he knew. And she knew that he loved her too. After all, she looked him in that certain way as well.

They had been together more often than not. Ichigo would drop by her campus after class to bring her coffee or just to be with her. However, it had taken some time for Rukia's college friends to believe that she—the straight-laced, pretty, high-born new kid—was going out with the man who was reputed as the most deadly delinquent to ever pass through Karakura high school. When they had first told her that, Rukia had rolled her eyes, told them that she didn't believe it for a minute, and that she didn't think that Ichigo could have ever been that bad. Then she had left to go to the coffee house with Ichigo, leaving her friends to wonder if Rukia was the good girl that she seemed.

Rukia spent her days split between classes and Ichigo. She had been relieved to find out that Ichigo was a whiz kid at the social sciences, and in exchange for his help, she helped him with his math. After all, she hadn't been homeschooled by a financial advisor for nothing. Math was practically her calling. Which meant that Ichigo got the marks that he deserved and they got to spend more time with each other.

Like the college-aged girls that they were, Rukia's friends always asked her if she was _actually_ studying when she went over to Ichigo's house. Rukia brushed of the comments, unbothered, Rukia was content that they were taking things slow, and that meant a lot to her that Ichigo was willing to go slow.

As they were talking, while Rukia was in the middle of a sentence, one of Rukia's heels broke. She would have taken a nasty fall if Ichigo hadn't caught her arm. Ichigo helped her hobble over to a tree on the side of the walkway without a word. He had had experience taking care of his counterpart after all, and he didn't mind doing it. It was something that he did with little to no thought. Rukia, on the other hand, was steaming.

"Damn this shoe! I knew that I shouldn't have worn heels today! Oh, the stinking price of beauty!"

Rukia ripped both her heeled sandals from her feet, unlatching the thin white straps with startling accuracy. She turned to her boyfriend.

"Hey, Ichigo, would you mind trying to find the heel that broke off? I think I've got some super glue at home. That'll fix it."

Ichigo nodded and found the white heel within moments. As he handed it back to Rukia, he asked, "Are you supposed to use superglue on shoes?"

Rukia shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. It'll work. I'm not going to look up the 'right' way to do it that'll probably cost me a ton of money and have me buying a new pair of shoes anyway." Rukia held the broken shoe to her eyes for inspection. "And if super glue doesn't work, there's always duct tape. After all, duct tape can fix anything."

"Except insanity and deadly diseases."

"Right." Rukia smiled and wrapped an arm around Ichigo's waist. "Well, that was an adventure. So where are you taking me?"

Ichigo pointed at her shoe. "Don't you want to get home to fix that or at least get some new shoes?"

"Nah. That'll just take more time. After all, no one really obeys the 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' rules anyway." Rukia walked out in front of him, her shoes tucked behind her as she clamped her hands behind her back and smiled sweetly at him. "Well, come on, Berry-head."

Rukia darted forward and kissed him on the cheek before darting away just as swiftly. It was Ichigo's turn to be the startled blushing one, while Rukia looked quite pleased with herself. It had been the first time that she had ever kissed him.

Rukia touched her lips with two fingers and smiled. "You're right, Ichigo. It is an effective way to shut someone up."

"Why you little . . ." Ichigo threatened, but he was smiled. He watched his girlfriend, who was darting ahead of him.

She had been one of the best things that had happened to Ichigo. She was smiling and happy, or coarse and rude. But always, she was his.

His little barefoot girl.

But it wasn't raining anymore.

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**A/N: Well, I loved that fanfic. Thanks to everyone who liked it! Please review! I'll give you cookies ;) Anyway, I'm thinking about maybe writing a sequel fic about Karin and Toshiro, but you guys I'll have to tell me what you think about the idea. Thanks for staying until the end! :D**


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